Dow Falls 430 Points as Bond Yields Surge and China Tensions Grow

The TSX and Dow Jones were sharply lower on Wednesday as fears of higher interest rates to come took the wind out of the sails that have powered stock market returns for years.

Microsoft lost 1.4 per cent in early trading Wednesday and 3M gave up 1.6 per cent.

The Dow slipped 831.83 points, or 3.15 percent, at 25,598.74, the S&P was down 38.36 points, or 3.28 percent, at 2,785.68 and the Nasdaq was down 315.97 points, or 4.08 percent, at 7,422.05.

The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 3.22 per cent from 3.20 per cent late Tuesday after earlier touching 3.24 per cent.

Earlier on Thursday, the SPI200 futures contract was down 109 points, or 1.81 per cent, to 5,914.0 at 7am AEDT, pointing to bleak open for the ASX, which had clawed back some ground on Wednesday after a turnaround in financial stocks and a strong performance by the healthcare sector.

The Dow's point decline was the worst since February, when the index fell by more than 1,000 - twice. The Nasdaq composite dropped 173, or 2.2 percent, to 7,565.

Wall Street stocks has plunged with major indices losing more than three percent in a sell-off prompted by the sudden jump in U.S. interest rates.

The losses were widespread, and stocks that have been the biggest winners on the market the last few years, including technology companies and retailers, suffered steep declines. Amazon skidded 4.8 per cent to $1,781.21 (U.S.).

The turbulence follows a recent winning streak for USA economic readings, including a 50-year low for the unemployment rate and the best-ever gauge of service-sector activity. "As stocks go down, tech goes down more". The stock fell 16.8 percent to 49 cents.

US crude settled down $1.79 at $73.17 per barrel and Brent fell $1.91 to settle at $83.09.

U.S. Treasury yields held near multi-year highs after producer prices climbed 0.2 percent in September, feeding into the pressure on the Federal Reserve to continue to raise interest rates even as the global economy struggles with headwinds from President Trump's trade war with China.

"The stock market in the US has started to take notice, and will continue to, particularly if the speed at which rates rise becomes alarming", Jeffrey Gundlach, chief executive of Doubleline Capital, told Reuters last week.

Wholesale gasoline shed 2.7 per cent to $2.02 a gallon. And the Standard and Poor's 500 stock index went down 3%, hitting what is now its longest losing streak in over two years.

United States gold futures settled up $1.9, or 0.16 percent, at $1,193.4. Silver dipped 0.5 per cent to $14.33 an ounce.

The S&P 500 fell 39 points, or 1.4 percent, to 2,840.

Intel fell 2.6 percent and Nvidia 4.4 percent. Investors see many of these countries as being vulnerable to higher USA interest rates, which can pull away investment dollars. The euro rose to $1.1525 from $1.1496.